Little, Troublesome, Love Story
by gaarafreak
Summary: Little story about Shikamaru and Ino’s relationship a few years in the future. Ino helps take care of Shika after the death of his father.
1. Default Chapter

**Title: **Little, Troublesome, Love Story

**Disclaimer**: These characters are from Naruto, which is copyrighted by Masashi Kishimoto and all those Japanese companies that own/produce it.

**Summary:** Little story about Shikamaru and Ino's relationship a few years in the future. Ino helps take care of Shika after the death of his father.

**Author's Note:** "Love is a piano dropped from a fourth story window, and you were in the wrong place at the wrong time." - Ani Difranco - I think this quote helped to inspire me to write about another of my favorite Naruto pairings, Ino and Shikamaru. Hope you enjoy it.

**Chapter One**

Shikamaru almost did not have enough willpower to finish setting up the chess table for a game. It was his favorite past time, wasting the hottest of summer days entranced in a quiet game of chess or go. His lethargic nature was the first challenge to overcome, in doing so perhaps he would complete the setup of the game. The second challenge was to size up his opponent, hopefully a worthy adversary, through subtle questioning and carefully hidden scrutiny.

The open patio looked out onto the Nara's backyard, a well-kept, clean lawn with a pleasant waterfall that dripped into a bamboo shoot and back into the gathering pool at the base of the fall. It was the perfect setting for his battle of intelligence and strategic know-how.

He did not like playing against the same opponent more than once… unless the other player could best him or trick him during the course of the game. Asuma had tricked him a few times, back when Shikamaru had been about 12 years old. Later, Asuma promised new challenges and thus brought along the sharingan ninja to test Shikamaru's strategy. Kakashi had caught him off guard and nearly won the game of chess.

Naruto had never shown him anything remotely interesting. But Naruto amused him, so usually they pit aside the chess set for a more appropriate game of Clue. Of course, Naruto would always have to be Colonel Mustard, while Shikamaru opted for the more respectable Professor Plum. It was the way of the world.

Having mustered up the energy to place one king piece in its rightful place on the board, Shikamaru sighed and glanced up at the bright blue sky. _I should just take a nap… This is troublesome._

At that moment, a loud knocking at the front door brought him down from the cloud spotted sky back to the ground. A woman's voice called form the front yard, "SHIKAMARU! If you don't answer this door, I'll break a window and let myself in! And if I have to do that… oooooh dang! I'll give you a new meaning for 'troublesome'!"

_Troublesome girl…_ he sighed inwardly, heaving himself to his feet as slowly as his male ego would allow without being so slow as to warrant Ino sufficient reason to go through with her threats. "I'm coming. Calm down already. You're bothering the neighbors."

Eventually he reached the door and opened it to reveal a very irritated, very blonde girl, who stood tapping her foot impatiently. "Took you long enough. What were you DOING in there? Wait, don't tell me. I'll probably be happier not knowing."

"You're so loud," he grumbled, taking a step back from the door to let her enter. "It was unlocked you know. You could have just barged in. Save me the trouble of answering the door."

"Please! As if I'm that rude," she snapped, throwing the basket of miscellaneous goods into his arms as she brushed passed him and into the house. "Dad sent me over to help you out. You know, make sure you're eating right and keeping the house in order."

On her way through the living room, she stopped in front of the small photograph of Shikamaru's father sitting in its frame between two candles on top of a tidy altar. "Hey there, old man Nara. Don't worry, I'm here to make sure your son is okay."

She bowed slightly before continuing passed the altar into the kitchen. Shikamaru muttered something under his breath but followed her closely, almost bumping into her when she stopped abruptly in the door frame. Confused as to her sudden halt, he glanced around her to see what the source of her reaction was. "Ino? What's the matter?"

Shakily, she took a step forward, fists clenched at her sides. "You're asking me… what's the matter?" She thrust a finger toward the piles and mounds of dirty dishes and trash left over from attempts at cooking. "LOOK at that mess! Can't you do anything yourself?! I cleaned all that up last time I was over! And that was a week ago! How could you make such a horrible mess in a week?"

"What mess?" he asked, yawning and scratching at the back of his head. She lapsed into stupefied silence, which he took for an invitation to speak. "Hey, Ino… stay over today? I'm so hungry. I haven't had a decent meal since you came over last."

"What have you been eating then?"

"Well… Chouji's been bringing me fast food. You know, chips and stuff he keeps in…" Shikamaru paused to consider how to end this sentence, but was stumped. "Do you know where Chouji keeps all those bags of chips?"

A look of horror crossed Ino's face as she realized what he was asking. "Oh, dear God… tell me you're joking. You didn't actually EAT those chips, did you? There's no way your stomach can handle the crap Chouji eats! Who knows where he's been storing that stuff! You probably have a tape-worm the size of my fist in your stomach by now!"

"Really?" Shikamaru pondered this. "So you'll stay?"

"I'm going to have to. These dishes won't wash themselves, and apparently you won't either. Get a towel, you're drying the damn things."

"Towel? They're all dirty."

She stared at him for a moment then smacked her forehead. "Of course they are! You probably didn't any laundry either."

"It's too much work. I figure the clothes will eventually get so dirty that they'll evolve beyond dirty. Maybe they'll become self-cleaning, you know… like hair."

This was too much. She grabbed him by the ponytail and bent him down to examine his scalp. "HAIR?! Please tell me you've been bathing yourself!"

Snickering at her obvious disgust and concern, he backed away from her painful grip. "I'm joking. At least about the hair. The towels are all dirty, but I'm not."

Frowning at him, Ino crossed her arms. "I don't care. Find something to dry the dishes with. I'll be damned if I'm going to clean all your dishes AND dry them by myself."

"Yes, boss," he muttered, walking down the hall toward the linen closet.

Rolling up her sleeves, Ino turned to the graveyard of battered dishes and knew, deep down, that there was a sink somewhere underneath it all. She just didn't know whether or not she would be able to find it in time.


	2. Ch 2

**Title:** Little, Troublesome, Love Story

**Disclaimer:** These characters are from Naruto, which is copyrighted by Masashi Kishimoto and all those Japanese companies that own/produce it.

**Summary:** Little story about Shikamaru and Ino's relationship a few years in the future. Ino helps take care of Shika after the death of his father.

**Author's Note:** Sorry about the wait. This chapter is funny, though the first chapter was a tad funnier I think. Tell me what you think and I'll take it into account when I write the next chapter.

**Chapter Two**

Two hours later, Ino was still diligently washing dishes, though there was finally an end in sight. Shikamaru sighed heavily as he continued to dry the dishes at a very leisurely pace. Every couple minutes he would pause in his drying to send Ino an expression of hope which she would respond to with a glare of anger. His hope at being finished with the chores was immediately dashed.

"If you don't like doing this much work then you should just rinse the dishes after you use them," Ino growled, plunging her hands into the sink up to her elbows and scrubbing at a resistant mass of food on a pan. "And I still have to cook your dinner after this... seriously, you'll be the death of me one of these days."

The comment was so obviously domestic and slipped from her mouth so naturally that it took a few moments for it to register in Shikamaru's mind. When it did, his cheeks became two matching circles of rosy colored happiness. _Wha? Why am I so happy? She's just a stupid girl I've known all my life. She'll always be a stupid girl, even when she's sixty years old._

"Hey, pay attention!" Ino snapped, holding out a wet plate irritably. He blinked out of his mental stupor to take the plate from her, ignoring her as she scrutinized his expression. "Why are you blushing?"

"I'm not blushing. It's just hot in here. You know, it being summer and all," he informed her sarcastically as he patted the dish dry and put it away in the cupboard. But his hasty reply was not enough to completely douse Ino's curiosity, so she just grinned and continued to clean the disgusting mess of a kitchen.

As she finished the dishes, Ino's mind began formulating a simple plan to have some fun at Shikamaru's expense. "Here, you still have lots of dishes to dry. It really is hot in here. I'll be right back."

Confused, Shikamaru grunted a reply, not bothering to look up from drying as Ino left the kitchen going in the direction of the hall. _What's up with that girl lately? She's being a little bit strange._

So he worked slowly but steadily for a number of minutes until the backlog of wet dishes that had piled up was finally dry. Just as he placed the last cup in its spot, the sound of Ino clearing her throat caused him to glance up from what he was doing.

"Sorry, I went in your room," she smiled, not looking apologetic in the least as she stood in the kitchen entrance wearing a pair of baggy shorts and a tight tank-top that looked like it belonged to an elementary school child. "It was too hot to keep wearing what I came in. Made me dizzy."

Shikamaru's eyes unconsciously ran up the length of her body and back down before he could stop himself. The look was not lost on her, no matter how much he tried to act like it was a passing gesture. Especially since his eyes kept drifting to the strip of flesh exposing her belly button down to the tiny amount of underwear that peeked over the low cut of the borrowed shorts.

"My face is much higher up than that, Shika-kuuuun," Ino snickered as she walked over to the stove and began preparing a pan to cook dinner. "Fried rice and noodles are okay?"

Taken aback at her question, Shikamaru coughed and tried to put himself into serious listening mode. "Yes. Don't call me that."

Rolling her eyes, Ino took out the ingredients she would need from their places in the kitchen. It required no thought as to where everything was located... she had been cooking for Shikamaru and his father long before old man Nara passed away. "Fine, DARLING."

He froze, though it was said to tease him, the word went spinning through his head. He over-analyzed everything around him way too much to let that slide. The bewilderment he experienced at her teasing and sly actions quickly turned into challenge, a feeling he hadn't felt since...

_Um... ever? _he contemplated, finishing the thought to himself.

The urgent feeling of having a worthy advisory brought him to his senses. A clever smile turned one corner of his lips upward as he took a step back to watch her cook. His hands came together of their own accord to form a square as he stared at her contemplating her actions.

Obviously she underestimated his genius. She continued to set up the area for food preparation, her back toward him. It was a basic rule of warfare that one should never leave their flanks exposed to the enemy.

No matter how attractive the flanks.

He watched her cook, the movements of her hands as she stirred the food, the look of semi-concentration on her face as she worked. After a few moments he realized he already knew everything there was to know about Ino and stopped examining her as if she were on par with his brilliance. Few people were.

Just to be sure, he retreated to the room looking out over the backyard and began setting up the chess set where he had left off. The best way to test a person's skill was to challenge them to a nice, friendly game of chess. Or Go.

Since he already had the chess set out, it was decided that he was too lazy to change to Go and thus they would duel using chess. He finished setting up the board just as Ino came in the room carrying two plates full of food, two pairs of chopsticks held securely between her teeth as her hands were both preoccupied with the plates.

She leaned down as she neared him and he absentmindedly took the offered chopsticks from her mouth, not really thinking as he did. She set his plate down on the table and took her own pair of chopsticks out of her mouth, grinning.

"Thanks for the food, Ino," he said, positioning himself in front of the plate and bowing his head slightly in thanks. Before he dug into the meal, he smirked and asked, "Oh, by the way, would you mind playing a quick game with me after dinner?"

Quirking an eyebrow at his question, Ino wondered what he was up to. "Chess, huh? Isn't that too easy of a conquest for you? Not even Asuma-sensei managed to beat you at this, what makes you think I'd do any better?"

Forcing an uninterested look across his face, Shikamaru shrugged and muttered, "Well, if it's too troublesome for you to bother..."

An angry laugh erupted from Ino's direction as she all but slammed her plate down on the table and plopped to the ground. "Troublesome! You make me clean your kitchen and cook your dinner and I'll probably end up doing your damn laundry too, and you're worried about a stupid GAME being too troublesome for me?"

He sent her a flat-eyed stare and a single word reply, knowing full well that she hated one-word answers. "Yes."

"Give me an attitude, will you?" she growled, hands balled into fists. "Fine, bring it on, genius!"

"Okay. But if I win you have to do one thing for me of my choice."

A blank look crossed her face as she considered this deal. "Only one thing?"

"Yes, just one. And if you win then I'll do one thing for you, your choice. Naturally."

"Like keeping your own house clean so I don't have to spend a whole afternoon picking up after you when I come over to visit?" she asked, uncertainly. He nodded in reply and a determined grin burst forth from her lips as she declared, "Let's get this game started!"


	3. Ch 3

**Title:** Little, Troublesome, Love Story

**Disclaimer:** These characters are from Naruto, which is copyrighted by Masashi Kishimoto and all those Japanese companies that own/produce it.

**Summary:** Little story about Shikamaru and Ino's relationship a few years in the future. Ino helps take care of Shika after the death of his father.

**Author's Note:** Ho ho, ho! Happy Valentine's Day. May you get much candy, because that's what this holiday is about: CANDY! Kinda like Halloween, only scarier... and on to our tale of terror!

**Chapter Three**

"I'll let you go first, since you're the guest," Shikamaru offered as soon as the dinner was finished.

Biting her lower lip, Ino stared at the chess board in complete concentration. She reached out to move a pawn, glanced up at Shikamaru's face to gauge his reaction but seeing only boredom, quickly withdrew her hand. He instantly realized something.

"You don't know how to play, do you?" he groaned covering his face with one hand.

Turning red, Ino stuttered a few times indignantly. "I'm sorry if I have better things to do than play some game that only old men would waste their time on! Really, why can't you like things that everyone understands?"

Flateyed, he sighed heavily before considering his options. He could either teach her how to play chess, which would assuredly take more time then he wanted to give her, or he could forget the whole thing...

Option number three stuck its blonde head through the door without so much as knocking. "SHIKAMARU! You here?"

Shikamaru felt a migraine begin to take root in his overly large brain. "Naruto, what the hell do you want?"

Hopping into the living room to join them, Naruto paused in the entrance way to gasp. "Ino-san! I didn't know you were here. Did I interrupt anything?"

The large, all-knowing grin that spread across Naruto's face bothered Shikamaru more than he cared to acknowledge. So instead of acknowledging his irritation, he deadpanned, "No, we were just finishing a game."

"Finishing?" Ino asked, confused at the sudden change in plans. "But I haven't done anything yet."

"Yeah, it'll probably stay that way too. You need to know how to play the game before you accept someone's challenge," he muttered, grabbing a handful of the pieces and placing them in the box. While Ino clenched her hands in fury, Shikamaru asked, "What brings you here, Naruto?"

"The smell of food," Naruto stated. "Your house never smells like food. Well, not likeedible food anyway. I was actually coming over to give you some supplies."

Shikamaru accepted the paper bag and looked inside. Without changing his tone or expression, he said, "A bag full of instant ramen. Wow. Thanks."

"Well, when you're roughing it with no women around, finding things to eat can be hard!" Naruto laughed boisterously and slapped Shikamaru on the back a few times to get his point across.

"Dumb-shit..." Shikamaru grumbled, putting the bag on the ground. "You're the only one who doesn't have a woman to make you dinner."

"What does THAT mean?" Ino demanded, arms crossed, one eyebrow raised in anger. "Do you think I'm some kind of servant, just waiting for you to let me clean and cook for you?"

Knowing full well that a straight answer would cause him even more trouble, Shikamaru waved his hands and mused, "Ino, Ino, you're getting upset. I know you're only here to make me feel better, not to be my maid. That's why I wanted to forget about the chores and play a game with you."

_Even though I already got you to clean all my dishes and kitchen and cook me dinner..._ Shikamaru grinned mentally. She was so easy to tease and trick into position. Once goaded into place, her actions were almost predictable. _Except for earlier... when she stole my old clothes. What was that about?_

Naruto must have noticed it too, because he finally gave her a trailing glance before asking, "Um... are those Shikamaru's old clothes?"

"Huh?" Ino looked down at herself and suddenlyremembered changing. "Yeah."

"Why are you wearing his clothes?" Naruto ventured, at a loss for what to make of the situation.

"Why are you sostupid?" Ino retailiated without really considering the fact that it was rude to answer a question with another question, especially another question that gave no answer. (say that three times fast!)

"Touché..." Naruto admitted, though Shikamaru doubted his friend knew what the word meant or what language it was. After a millisecond of thought, which was a surprisingly long time when Naruto was concerned, the blonde ninja brightened and announced, "Well, if you're done with your game, I've got an idea."

Ino grumbled under her breath and Shikamaru rubbed his eyes whilest sighing, but Narutofailed to notice their obvious distaste for his "ideas". He continued on undaunted, "Okay, so hear me out. Sakura should be done training with the old bat- I mean, Tsunade, and Kiba's probably at home... Hinata too I bet. I'll round them all up and bring them over here for a rip-roaring round of Clue! Just like we always do, only this time we'll have other people to play it with us!"

More than a little disturbed by Naruto's sudden desire to play Clue, Ino turned to Shikamaru and demanded, "You put him up to this, didn't you? Clue? What the hell. You've played Clue with Naruto before? I thought you had some kind of genius pride that only let you play things geezers would waste their time on."

"Hey hey, Ino! Why don't you make some snacks or something? I'll be right back with everyone!" Naruto grinned and bounced out of the house making a tumult of noises as he went. Ino's left eye twitched as she stood up.

"Where are you going? Inooooo," Shikamaruinquired in his lazily drawl. Ino refused to find it cute, even if her heart sped up when he drew her name out in that tone.

"I'm leaving now. You're about to have a mess load of people over and I don't want to be here to see how torn up the place is going to get before I have to clean it up again."

A voice at the back of his mind whined for him to make her stay, to kick his stupid natural tendencyto not care about anything, and throw his arms around her. But he immediately remembered his creed which he muttered out loud as he scratchedbehind his ear. "Damn, women are so troublesome."

She stopped halfway to the front door and froze in place. He really knew exactly what to say to send her spinning out of control. It was a well known fact that if you wanted to push Ino's buttons there were two people you could go to: Sakura Haruno or Shikamaru Nara.

Both were very important people in her life. At the same time, both were the source of her high-blood pressure and insanely competitive nature.

Turning around slowly, she brandished her fist which was shaky and white with rage. "I'll show you troublesome, you no-good/good-for-nothing idiot!"

A slight smile spread across his face as he pulled the Clue box out from under the coffee table and opened it. Holding out the red pawn, he said, "I'm assuming you'll want to be Miss Scarlet then."

"Damn straight I want to be Miss Scarlet..." she paused as it dawned on her that this was all part of whatever he had in store for her. Frowning, she glared at him and sat down across from him at the table, swiping the red marker out his hand. "You're an ass."

"And you're way too stupid," he replied as if it were common knowledge. By his calculations, it was time for Naruto to return so he leaned across the table and murmured, "But that's okay, because you're my stupid Ino."

Before she could get angry or erupt into indignant shouting, Naruto and the others clamored in through the front door, disrupting the strange scenario. All Ino could do was sit in place and wait for the red blushing in her cheeks to disappear as she plotted her revenge.


	4. Ch 4

**Title:** Little, Troublesome, Love Story

**Disclaimer:** These characters are from Naruto, which is copyrighted by Masashi Kishimoto and all those Japanese companies that own/produce it.

**Summary:** Little story about Shikamaru and Ino's relationship a few years in the future. Ino helps take care of Shika after the death of his father.

**Author's Note:** Finally, some love-love action. Kakashi and Jiraiya would be proud. tear Only it's not that pervy. At all even. I'm ruining the mood. Forget you heard this. The song I listened to while writing this chapter amused me: Tsunami Bomb - "The Simple Truth". Should I continue this story or what?

**Chapter Four**

"SHIKAMARU! You cheater!" Ino slammed her cards down on the table, effectively crushing them beneath her hands.

"The cards!" Hinata gasped, obviously as crushed as the cards were about the entire ordeal.

Sakura sighed, trying to avert Ino's blazing anger, "Ino, don't worry about it. Seriously though, I really doubt he cheated, this is a really easy game... and you know Shikamaru's pretty smart."

"Shut up!" Ino ordered, shocking Naruto more than Sakura, who was used to the verbal abuse when her friend/rival was angry.

"Okay okay, settle down everyone..." Kiba laughed uncomfortably beside Hinata. They seemed to be the most sane people present at the little get-together, but they were also usually the easiest to forget about. Neither of them minded being forgotten, so all was for the best.

"Um..." Hinata began, glancing at her watch without thinking about it. The time surprised her. "Ah, everyone, it's very late... and I have training tomorrow... as do most of you. Er, that is... maybe we could... postpone the rest of the game?"

Glancing around the immediate area, Shikamaru realized just how messy everything had become. The amount of clutter and dirt that had accumulated within the span of a few hours rivaled his own mess that had taken a whole week to perfect. He really hoped Ino didn't notice the outcome of all her hard work.

But first things first: "Hinata, don't worry about it. I already know the answer to who killed Mr. Boddy. It was Professor Plum in the conservatory with the wrench."

Everyone sat dumb for a moment until Naruto laughed and moved to check the cards. After a moment, Shikamaru was declared the official winner. "Great job! You never lose at these games!"

Shrugging lazily, Shikamaru leaned back to prop himself against a wall while seated. "I'm good at games. Big deal."

No one suspected his words to be anything but idle cynicism; however, Ino paused upon hearing the slight irritation in his tone. their friends started to shift in their seats when Shikamaru obviously did not seem to want to stand up and see them off.

Sensing a need for delicacy when dealing with him at the moment, Ino smiled at her friends and stood. "I'm so glad you all came to see me and Shikamaru today. It would have been boring without you guys."

Inclining her head gratefully, she led them to the door, leaving Shikamaru to brood in his seat.

As she bade everyone good-bye, Shikamaru pondered her actions._ I can't understand her. Sometimes she's so sweet and considerate, but other times she's... down-right mean. Women... no, not women. No other woman is this annoying and hard to figure out. Ino's one of a horrible kind._

He remembered the disruptive arguments his mother and father used to have. Well, the arguments were more-or-less one sided with his mother shouting and his father being stupid enough to do something that warranted shouting in the first place. They always made up afterward.

So far as he could tell, making up consisted of kissing and other such nonsense. His father had always given him ample advice in regards to making a woman happy after a fight. Flowers, candy, gifts. Profuse begging.

_Troublesome... so damn troublesome._ Shikamaru grunted inwardly as he finally slid down from his propped up position to lie flat on his back. Staring up at the ceiling, his eyelids drooped slightly.

His father had given him a lot of advice before passing away. Remembering the advice caused a chain-reaction in his brain leading back to remembering his deceased father. A pang of dull, aching sadness spread through his chest. He rolled over slowly so that he rested face-down on the carpet. There. That was comfortable.

The front door shut after what seemed like a couple minutes. _She must have gone home. It is late._

Two soft hands on his back told him his predication was wrong. Startled, Shikamaru glanced up from his spot, but Ino just smiled at him comfortingly. "Hey, relax. You need this right now, I can tell."

Under her diligent, massaging hands, the aches in his back muscles worked loose and then disappeared completely. He snickered softly, "What's up with you? You're being so wifely."

Eye twitching at the underlying meaning in his words, Ino applied a swift karate chop to the back of his neck. "I'll have you know I'd make anyone a great wife. What do you think I've been doing all my life? Not everyone is as lazy as you."

After a few minutes working on his back, she moved on to his neck, speaking in a calming voice that lulled him closer to sleep. "You know, my mom once told me that people carry their emotions on their back. You can always tell when a person has been having a rough time of life by how they stand and sit."

"Un," he muttered, eyes closed. "What does that have to do with me?"

Without warning, Ino took one finger and pressed it gently into a particularly stubborn knot in his lower back. Shikamaru yelped in pain, but made no move to escape her hands. "You've got knots all over. I doubt I can get them all out tonight."

"What if we work at it all night?" Shikamaru answered without thinking about what he was saying for the first time in his life. When his brain finally caught up to his tongue, he sprang up and quickly tumbled backward over the coffee table. Ino watched him stumble and stutter and grow red-faced with embarrassment.

It was all so cute.

He had fallen on his rear, hands braced on the ground, his legs bent at the knees to aid in scurrying backward if need be. Smirking at his bewildered expression, she crept forward on her hands and knees slowly, until they were only a few inches away. He scooted back a few inches and she moved forward to catch up to him. This continued until his back was against the wall and his escape route was cut off.

Her playful grin grew a fraction wider before she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and met his lips with her own.

The kiss was a tad awkward and ended rather quickly. Shikamaru kept his eyes open the entire time, his mouth still slightly agape as he blinked his confusion at her.

"O-kay..." Ino sent him a flat-eyed stare that snapped him out of his stupor. With a small smile, she butted her forehead against his playfully and laughed, "Let's try that again."

This time it was wonderful.

"There's that enthusiasm! I knew you had it in you, Shika-kun," she teased, breathless.

"Don't call me that," he replied reflexively, his mind not focused on her teasing.

At this point, his arms gave way and they both toppled from their sitting positions, sliding down the wall. They ended up in a surprised heap on the ground, Ino's elbows jabbing into Shikamaru's stomach, knocking the wind out of him.

Laughing at their clumsiness, Ino collapsed to the floor beside him and dissolved into giggles.

"Third time's a charm, huh?" He turned to face her, their eyes met in the dimly lit room, and he leaned in, pressing their lips together in warm acceptance.

Outside the summer heat remained steady even in the dead of night and the cicadas droned on from the grass. Lanterns glowed against buildings, lighting the way through the sleeping city of Konoha so that all could find where they needed to be.


End file.
